


Five Pictures That Were Never Taken

by out_there



Category: Sports Night
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-01
Updated: 2009-10-01
Packaged: 2017-10-15 04:57:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/157257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/out_there/pseuds/out_there
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five Pictures That Were Never Taken</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Pictures That Were Never Taken

**Graduation**

The photo sits on Dan's desk in a cheap plastic frame. It's Dan's graduation photo. Well, it belongs to Dan and he refers to it as the graduation photo, but wasn't actually taken at Dan's graduation. Only a few people know how Dan...overindulged at Dartmouth and why he never actually graduated.

This photo was taken in front of one of the old buildings at Harvard, the grey stones forming a great backdrop for the smiling pair of young men. Standing in jeans and a shirt, Dan beams widely at the camera lens with his arm wrapped around a graduate's shoulders. The guy beside him is a few inches taller than Dan, but has the same dark hair and the same quirky smile. Somehow, he managed to avoid the rather distinctive Rydell nose.

When people ask about it, Dan always says proudly, "The graduation photo? It's me and my brother. That was taken when Sam finished his second degree."

  
 **Career**

Everyone who enters Casey's corporate-looking office takes note of the bright photo hanging on the wall. The wide deep red frame adds a nice touch of colour and style to his blank office walls. Casey beams from the centre of that red frame, his hands in the pockets of his expensive suit as he casually stands in front of the set.

Casey loves that photo. Every time he sees it, he remembers the excitement of that day, of the very first show. He remembers posing for the picture, carefully following the photographer's instructions so he wouldn't look too uptight or too relaxed. He remembers the way Lisa stood a few feet behind the camera, smiling back at him; the way that her face lit up when she was introduced to Conan O'Brien.

Most of the staff thinks it's there for pure vanity. That it's Casey's not so subtle way of showing off his accomplishments; another reason why the famous McCall is considered smug and obnoxious. But it reminds Casey of the way he and Lisa couldn't stop grinning after they'd finished filming that first show, how they'd been so wired that they'd gone drinking and ended up making out in the back of a cab like a couple of teenagers. It reminds him of all the reasons why he loves hosting Late Night.

  
 **Marriage**

Everyone seems to be in the wedding shot, the whole crowd all shoved together for one big photo. Out to each side are rows of family, aunts and uncles, distant cousins once or twice removed. To the left are all six of Dana's brothers, standing in a row with their wives behind them. To the right stand Gordon's sister and both sets of parents. In the middle, the happy couple smile blissfully at the camera.

Their friends are among the crowd, but you need to look a little more carefully for them. Natalie's the easiest to spot, standing at Dana's left in a bridesmaid dress that she and Dana picked out together. Behind her stands Jeremy, his thick glasses reflecting the flash. Kim, Chris, Dave and Will are at the far left, standing in a little huddled crowd. Isaac, Esther and their younger daughters stand beside Dana's father, off to the right. A few rows from the back, Dan and Casey stand together, flanked by girls whose names they no longer remember.

Everyone seems happy and it's a crowd full of big excited grins and small sweet smiles. (And, if some people look tense, squinting towards the camera, everyone remembers how bright the sun was and how the flash took them by surprise.)

  
 **Anniversary**

When Jeremy gets back from the drugstore, he passes the photos around to everyone. Accordingly, Kim, Dave, Chris, Will, Dana, Natalie, Casey and Dan all spend the first ten minutes of the six o'clock rundown looking at the photos politely and trying not to get fingerprints on them.

"These look good," Dave says.

"Who took them?" Chris asks.

Jeremy grins. "My sister Louise. She's great behind a camera."

Dana looks up at him quickly. "What camera did she use?"

"I don't know," Natalie replies. "But it didn't look like yours, Dana."

"Oh." Dana takes the next photo from Kim, passing the one she was looking at to Casey.

"So how many years is that?" Casey asks, looking at the happy couple.

"Thirty-five." Jeremy smiles proudly.

"Wow," Dan says, making a vague gesture as he takes another photo from Casey. "Your parents have been married for a long time."

Casey raises an eyebrow at Dan. "How long have your parents been married?"

"Off the top of my head?" Dan asks and then shrugs. "About that long."

"So it's not really that long, is it Dan?"

"Compared to you and Lisa, that's a long time," Dan replies with a grin and Casey just rolls his eyes.

"It looks like the anniversary party was wonderful," Dana offers and Natalie nods, opening her mouth to say something, but Isaac's voice interrupts.

"Do any of you people remember that we work in television?" Isaac walks through the door and the rundown starts as Jeremy hurries to put the photos away.

  
 **Funeral**

When they saw the photo published, Dana called the newspaper and screamed at them, Casey sat in stony silence, and Dan just stopped reading the newspapers for a week. Everyone ignored the phones that kept ringing for interview requests and just concentrated on running the show as they always had. They let Calvin deal with it and eventually Quo Vadimus' legal team made it clear that there would be no interview, no comments and no exclusives given to anyone.

There were other photos taken. Some of the headstone and some of the casket as it sunk into the ground. They immortalized the gloomy crowd of mourners standing with their heads bowed and their eyes hooded. They were pictures of grief; people with their arms around friends and family, weeping and reciting prayers woodenly.

This was just a photo taken by some reporter. Just another photo of the funeral, probably meant to go beside the picture labeled Isaac Jaffee, the relevant years listed below. It had just been taken at the right--the wrong--moment. It had been taken when only Dan and Casey stood at the graveside, after the crowds and journalists and even Dana had left. It had been taken the second after Casey leaned over to ask if Dan was ready to go. I had been taken the second before Dan nodded and they both turned to leave. It was just bad luck that it had been taken during that missing second as Dan pressed a tender kiss against Casey's jaw.  



End file.
